Air and room cleaning device

ABSTRACT

Air and room cleaning device ( 1, 21 ) with a suction motor and a supply of water ( 8 ), with a rotating separator which is wetted by the water and through which the air flows and with a control unit ( 17 ) which brakes the suction motor ( 15, 23 ) in particular when the separator ( 11 ) is switched off.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

Applicant claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119 of German Application No.201 12 395.9 filed on Jul. 27, 2001. Applicant also claims priorityunder 35 U.S.C. §365 of PCT/EP02/08366 filed on Jul. 26, 2002. Theinternational application under PCT article 21(2) was not published inEnglish.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to an air and room cleaning device with a suctionmotor and a supply of water as well as with a rotating separator whichis wetted by the water and through which the air flows.

BACKGROUND

Devices of this kind have already been disclosed in practice; althoughthey have proved to be very successful, they have a crucialdisadvantage.

When the suction motor starts operating and is switched off, air thathas either not been cleaned at all or has not been cleaned fullyeffectively is released, because the separator is not yet or no longerworking properly.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The purpose of the invention is to improve a device of the kind outlinedabove in such a way that only cleaned air is released when the device isbeing switched on and off.

In the solution to this problem proposed by the invention, a controlunit is provided which brakes the suction motor particularly when orbefore the separator is switched off.

The suction motor still has a substantial suction capacity when it isslowing down in particular, whereas the separator only has an adequateeffect at very high speeds.

When the separator is switched off, the effect of the suction motor isalso deactivated to such an extent that it cannot blow out any moreuncleaned air.

It has proved to be very advantageous in this context if in accordancewith a further development of the invention the suction motor isprovided with a brake that takes effect before or at least at the sametime that the separator is switched off.

This brake can take different forms.

In an advantageous further development of the invention, a motorindependent of the suction motor is provided on the separator.

The suction motor can then be braked already before the separator driveis switched off, so that no suction capacity is available any longerwhen the effect of the separator decreases.

When the device is switched on, the separator can be started firstbefore the suction motor is activated too.

It has proved to be very advantageous if in accordance with anotherfurther development of the invention the control unit switches thesuction motor on and off depending on the speed of the separator motor.

It is, however, also possible that the control unit switches the suctionmotor off before the separator motor and switches the suction motor onafter the separator motor.

This chronological order is sufficient to make sure that no uncleanedair is blown through.

It is also very advantageous if in accordance with the invention theseparator is pivoted above the supply of water.

In another advantageous further development of the invention, theseparator is located at an air passage opening that leads into a suctionroom in which a ventilation wheel of the suction motor is located.

It is also very advantageous if in accordance with the invention theseparator and the ventilation wheel of the suction unit have a jointdrive and are provided with a braking unit.

In another advantageous further development of the invention, theseparator and the ventilation wheel of the suction motor are located ona joint shaft that is engaged by a brake.

Another further development of the invention is also very advantageous,in accordance with which the brake is configured as an electric brake,such as an eddy current brake.

It is, however, also possible in accordance with the invention that thebrake is configured as a mechanical brake.

In accordance with another further development of the invention, it hasproved to be very advantageous if at least one guide unit is provided inthe area of the supply of water.

This guide unit is designed to direct and guide the path of thecontaminated air that flows into the cleaning device.

It has proved to be very advantageous in this context if at least onedeflection plate is provided as the guide unit.

It is also very advantageous if the guide unit is provided essentiallyparallel to the base surface.

In another very advantageous further development of the invention, theguide unit is located in such a way that the supply of water is dividedup into at least two chambers.

It has proved to be very advantageous in addition if the guide unit isdesigned to be removable.

The purpose of all these guide units is to allow the air to spend longerin the supply of water, as a result of which cleaning of the air isimproved even more.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Three embodiments of the invention are shown in the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram of a device for air and room cleaning with twoseparate motors,

FIG. 2 is another diagram of a device with a joint drive motor for thesuction unit and the separator and

FIG. 3 is a further diagram of a device for air and room cleaning with aguide unit designed in the form of a deflection plate.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

1 in FIG. 1 is a device that has a housing 2. Two horizontal partitionwalls 3 and 4 are provided in this housing 2 and divide the housing upinto three compartments 5, 6 and 7. A supply of water 8, into which anair inlet facility 9 projects, is provided in the bottom compartment 5.This air inlet facility is fitted in the outside wall of the housing 2above the supply of water 8, so that water cannot escape through thefacility. An air passage opening 10, in front of which a separator 11 islocated that is connected to a drive motor 13 via a drive shaft 12, isprovided in the partition wall 3. The air passage opening 10 leads tothe second compartment 6, which is limited by the partition walls 3 and4. A ventilation wheel 14 of a suction motor 15 is located in thiscompartment 6, which sucks the air through the air inlet facility 9 andblows it out through an outlet opening 16 in the outside wall of thehousing 2.

The flow of air takes drops of water to which the dust particlescontained in the air bond with it as it goes through the supply ofwater. When they meet the separator 11, which is rotating at high speed(about 25 000 rpm), the drops of water with the dust bonded to them isspun off; any water that is not spun off drains downwards, with the duststicking at least to some extent to the separator.

The air that passes through the separator 11 is cleaned and istransported to the air outlet 16 by the ventilator wheel 14.

When the device 1 is switched on, the separator 11, 12, 13 is first ofall started via a control unit 17 that is not explained in any greaterdetail here; the suction motor 15 is not switched on too until theseparator has reached its effective speed. This makes it impossible foruncleaned air to escape via the air outlet 16. The separator remainsswitched on as long as the ventilation wheel 14 of the suction motor 15is still transporting air out of the outlet when the device is switchedoff as well. The separator motor 13 is not switched off by the controlunit 17 until after this.

An air and room cleaning device 21 is again provided with a housing 22in the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 2. The two partition walls 3 and 4separate three compartments 5, 6 and 7 from each other here too. Asupply of water 8, into which the air inlet facility 9 projects, isagain provided in the bottom compartment 5. The separator 11 located inthe bottom compartment 5 above the supply of water 8 and the ventilationwheel 14 located in the second compartment 6 are attached to a jointshaft 12, that is driven by a joint drive motor 23.

This drive motor 23 is designed in such a way that it reaches itsmaximum speed at which the separator 11 operates fully effectively veryquickly, so that no significant amount of uncleaned air escapes when thedevice 21 starts to run.

The drive motor 23 is equipped with a brake 24 that leads to a very faststop when the device is switched off, so that no significant amount ofair is transported any more in this case either.

Different configurations are possible for the brake 24. An electricbrake such as an eddy current brake is one conceivable alternative.Electronic brake circuits can also be used. It is, however, possible toprovide a mechanical brake as well.

The separator 11 and the ventilation wheel 14 can be connected to eachother by other means instead, for example via a belt drive, and can thenbe driven by a single motor. The same measures outlined in connectionwith the joint drive shaft are then necessary in this context.

A horizontal deflection plate 31, which increases the length of the timethe air sucked in through the air passage opening 10 spends in thesupply of water 8, can be provided in the area of the supply of water.It is, however, also conceivable that the path the air takes through thesupply of water 8 is extended even more by providing appropriatelyshaped guide units. A channel can, for example, be formed through thesupply of water 8. The deflection plate 31 is designed to be removable.Easy cleanability is therefore guaranteed.

It is, however, also conceivable that the compartment 5, which containsthe supply of water 8, is divided up into at least two sub-compartmentsabove the supply of water 8 by a guide unit and that the air intakefacility 9 is only configured to breach the outside wall of the housing2. The air inlet facility projects into one of the two sub-compartmentsinside the device. Air has to flow through the supply of water 8 toreach the other sub-compartment from this sub-compartment.

1. Air and room cleaning device (1, 21) with a suction motor and asupply of water (8) as well as with a rotating separator which is wettedby the water and through which the air flows, wherein a control unit(17) is provided which brakes the suction motor (15, 23) particularlywhen the separator (11) is switched off.
 2. Air and room cleaning deviceaccording to claim 1, wherein the suction motor (23) is provided with abrake (24) that takes effect before or at least at the same time thatthe separator (11) is switched off.
 3. Air and room cleaning deviceaccording to claim 1, wherein a motor (13) independent of the suctionmotor (15) is provided on the separator (11).
 4. Air and room cleaningdevice according to claim 3, wherein the control unit (17) switches thesuction motor (15) on and off depending on the speed of the separatormotor (13).
 5. Air and room cleaning device according to claim 3,wherein the control unit (17) switches the suction motor (15) off beforethe separator motor and switches the suction motor (15) on after theseparator motor.
 6. Air and room cleaning device according to claim 1,wherein the separator (11) is pivoted above the supply of water (8). 7.Air and room cleaning device according to claim 6, wherein the separator(11) is located at an air passage opening (10) that leads into a suctionroom (6) in which a ventilation wheel (14) of the suction motor (15) islocated.
 8. Air and room cleaning device according to claim 1, whereinthe separator (11) and the ventilation wheel (14) of the suction unithave a joint drive.
 9. Air and room cleaning device according to claim8, wherein the separator (11) and the ventilation wheel (14) of thesuction motor are located on a joint shaft (12) that is engaged by abrake (24).
 10. Air and room cleaning device according to claim 9,wherein the brake (24) is configured as an electric brake, such as aneddy current brake.
 11. Air and room cleaning device according to claim9, wherein the brake (24) is configured as a mechanical brake.
 12. Airand room cleaning device according to claim 1, wherein at least oneguide unit is provided in the area of the supply of water (8).
 13. Airand room cleaning device according to claim 12, wherein at least onedeflection plate (31) is provided as the guide unit.
 14. Air and roomcleaning device according to claim 12, wherein the guide unit isprovided essentially parallel to the base surface.
 15. Air and roomcleaning device according to claim 12, wherein the guide unit is locatedin such a way that the supply of water (8) is divided up into at leasttwo chambers.
 16. Air and room cleaning device according to claim 12,wherein the guide unit is designed to be removable.